Study: Tech athletics needs to market better if stands are to be filled

Published: Wednesday, May 09, 2001

CHRIS VAN WAGENENA-J Business Editor

Editor's note: There is an updated version of this story in the updated section.

Organizers were out in force Wednesday to promote the second annual South Plains Job Fair which will be held Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Memorial Civic Center.

Texas Tech's athletic department needs to do a better job in reaching football fans outside Lubbock if the university is to ever fill its football stadium on a consistent basis.

That was the conclusion of a study released by Denver-based Bonham Group Research, which spent five months trying to determine just why attendance tends to wane during the regular season, with the exception of a couple high-profile games.

The study's results were presented Wednesday to the board of Market Lubbock Inc., which will consider funding a $500,000 football and basketball marketing campaign. The campaign will be aimed at reaching Tech alumni and fans from eastern New Mexico to Abilene and from Amarillo to the Permian Basin as well as those in larger cities.

"They (Bonham Group) just don't think we do a good job (marketing ourselves)," said Steve Sullivan, the department's marketing director.

Along with problems overall, marketing efforts also fail to reach younger alumni as well as minorities who, the study determined, "are big sport fans, but not loyal Tech followers."

Tech football fans, at least those attending games, average 45 years of age, according to the study.

Bonham also determined that ticket costs as well as travel play a role in determining football game attendance, Sullivan said.

However, Sullivan said ongoing stadium improvements as well as changes to Tech's ticket structure, in particular making it more affordable for families this year, should turn the picture around this year.

Tech Chancellor John Montford, who is also a member of Market Lubbock and who recused from the funding matter, said costs involving the United Spirit Arena, Jones/SBC Stadium and improvements being made at other athletic facilities has put pressure on the university.

"We're doing in five years, what most universities will take 10 years to do. We think this (marketing campaign) is a minimal investment to get people here, and we think it will have an economic impact," he said.

Sullivan said Tech is already getting aggressive on the marketing front, where football is concerned.

He said the university has formed a Pride and Pageantry Committee geared toward creating a weekend atmosphere that will draw alumni and football fans from other markets that Tech has failed to penetrate.

Tech is also making 35 tour stops with a newly purchased Raider Fun Zone  an inflatable 5,000-square-foot entertainment game venue now on the road promoting the university and its football program, Sullivan said.